Steele Reeling
by loneguppy
Summary: In London, Laura's encounter with 'The Ripper' left her in distress. Everyone is hovering by as she regains her icy calm. [Summary revised since publish]
1. Chapter 1

The murderer turned out to be Bradford Galt. He was 'The Ripper' who had been terrorizing the streets of London and he has been caught.

" _Who_ the hell is _he_?", Steele demanded to know.

To which Laura readily supplied the answer. "He is the future brother-in-law to the Earl of Claridge."

Steele looked inside the carriage, but Laura was bent over burying her face in her hands. "I'm going to be sick...oooh" Leaning back, she let out a long breath, and anticipated Steele's next question, "Then I will be OK." Even so, her tired drawn expression did raise some concern.

In the distance, sirens could be heard. All the commotion must have alerted the police. Shortly, a police car arrived followed by an ambulance.

As detectives escorted Mr. Galt away, Steele helped Laura down from the carriage. When her footing was a little wobbly, he grabbed her by the elbow and guided her to the paramedics.

Elevated blood pressure. Heart rate racing. Our normally stoic detective seemed a bit more shaken than usual. Laura rested on the stretcher in the back of the ambulance. She had a cold compress over her forehead and temperature getting checked. Good. No fever. Steele had fresh bandages applied to his wounds.

"I'm feeling much better now... Really!" It was good to see some colour return to her complexion. Still. Steele was worried. Laura could have been hurt badly. He felt responsible.

Feeling Steele's gaze on her, Laura felt embarrassed by the fuss she was getting. He knows there was no sense in arguing when she had made up her mind. The only thing he could do was insist on keeping her company.

Steele hovered outside her bathroom door in case he was needed. She came out dressed in a hotel robe, holding an ice bag against her left cheek. A bruise was forming where Galt had struck her.

Laura crawled under the covers. She was beyond tire. Sleep would be welcome even for a few hours. She trained her gaze up at Steele. "Are you going to be gone again if I close my eyes?", she said yawning.

Steele scratched his stubbled chin and shook his head. Stooping down to face Laura, he said, "Miss Holt, I would gladly go back to being your Mr. Steele. But don't you think, I should look the part again?" Before Steele had finished his last sentence, Laura had already drifted off. He kissed her head gently before leaving to get changed.


	2. Chapter 2

_Where are you?_

 _Mr. Steele?_

 _There was only darkness._

 _Suddenly, hands reached out at Laura and her throat felt constricted as if she was back in that alley again._

 _No. She struggled. No car horn. No._

 _Only this time, no one came to her aid._

" _Nooo!"_

Miss Holt? It sounded like her yelling.

Panicking now, Mildred entered the bedroom unannounced to investigate the source.

Peering inside, all she saw was the unmade bed. No occupant. Mildred followed faint sounds to the far side of the bed. There on the floor, Laura Holt laid face down in a tangle of bedding, still very much asleep.

Calling her name only resulted in a muffled "no".

The sudden movement of Mildred turning her over jostled the young woman to consciousness.

On instinct, Laura coiled and tensed up until she opened her eyes and stared up at Mildred's concerned gaze.

"Oh, Mildred!" Laura said, as she sighed with relief and relaxed in the older woman's arms, trying to will the thumping in her chest to quiet itself.

"Oh, Miss Holt, are you really OK? When you didn't return, and police reports of another attack. Well. I got worried." Mildred brought her arms around Laura and hugged her fiercely.

"I am alright, Mildred. Really. I just had a bad dream. Really." Failing to sound reassuring. Still feeling the pain of the bruise on her face. She gave Mildred a wan smile and a firm pat on the arm.

"Whoa!" Standing up too soon, Laura was rewarded with a vision of stars from the blood rush. Thankfully for the bed and Mildred's quick reflexes, she didn't fall.

Mildred helped her to the edge of the bed, then brought her a glass of water.

"Thanks. Light headed. Haven't eaten since yesterday."

"Did you hear me, Laura? I give you my word. I will be there." That was all _he_ said on the phone.

It took what was left of Laura's iron resolve, with an occasional assist from Mildred, to keep her hands from shaking as she recounted her version of events from the previous night. How Mr. Steele apprehended the killer. How he stopped the man from claiming another victim.

Together, they marched right into Inspector Lombard's office, buoyed by the promising fact that Mr. Steele was back on the team.


	3. Chapter 3

Having only three hours sleep, Laura Holt started feeling queasy in the taxi cab. Her stomach refused to settle. Her hands sweating. It was a relief when she and Mildred finally arrived at the doorsteps of Scotland Yard.

"Mildred, I hate to admit this," Laura started to say. "But I am nervous as hell."

"A police briefing? What have you got to be afraid of, kiddo? You face down gun wielding bad guys for a living. You can do anything, Miss Holt." Mildred gave Laura's arm a reassuring nudge. "Now you are the big city P.I. who just cracked a major case."

"Right," smiling Laura began to say when she suddenly felt an uncontrollable urge to vomit.

Mildred followed Laura into the women's lavatory and found her standing over a sink.

Knowing Laura must be having one of her nasty headaches, Mildred lowered the lid on a toilet in one of the stalls, led her over and set her down. Then she took out a bottle of White Flower Oil from her purse and dabbed some of the clear liquid onto her fingers and proceeded to massage the younger woman's temples.

As the soothing scent of camphor worked its way up her nose, the tension in Laura began to ebb under Mildred's deft touch. "Um. What is that?"

"A natural analgesic my sister, Eunice, brought back from her trip to the Orient."

Mildred finished off by dabbing a drop of the oil on the back of Laura's right hand.

"Mildred, you are a miracle worker," Laura sighed, as she reached out for a hug.

" _Now_ can I get a raise?"

This elicited a laugh from Laura.

"We will discuss it."

* * *

Later, Laura and Mildred was sitting in Chief Inspector Lombard's office, as he paced between the door and the window.

"Misappropriation of a vehicle. Harassment. Aiding and abetting a fugitive…"

"Excuse me, sir," interrupted Laura. "Mr. Steele is NOT a fugitive." She glared at Lombard from her seat.

"Even so. You knew we wanted to question him."

After a brief pause, he continued to reprimand.

"I see you have chosen to ignore my previous warnings and ventured into Whitechapel once again."

Lombard scrutinized Laura's face as he stepped back behind his desk.

Laura looked away then to avert his gaze. She had done her best to conceal the bruise with makeup, but couldn't be sure if it was covered up completely.

"I only followed a carriage."

"Did it not occur to you that a desperate man like Galt would lash out at anyone who got in his way?"

Lombard closed the dossier and dropped it onto his desk.

"I've handled the situation quite well."

"At risk to personal safety. Fortunately, Mr. Steele happened along when he did."

"Lucky me," Laura whispered. She could feel Mildred's hand on her arm.

"I shall overlook these transgressions because you managed to stop a bloody killer." Lombard conceded.

"Thank you."

"So. Who is this Galt character anyway?" asked Mildred.

Lombard then proceeded to tell the women Bradford Galt's background history.

"Yeah. But I still don't understand why the earl runs around in this carriage," says Mildred.

"Galt supplied the answer to that," Laura explained. "The earl is a very proper man and he didn't want anyone to know he was seeing his fiancee before they were married."

"Reporters from some of our more sensational tabloids were camped outside the estate," Lombard added. "With the hansom cab, he could cut across the grounds and leave without being seen."

"Galt knew he had several uninterrupted hours to use the earl's carriage," Laura concluded.

Lombard checked his watch.

"Mr. Steele is going to join us, isn't he?"

"He just needed a few moments to make himself presentable," Laura assured him with a firm nod.

Lombard then picked up 5 passports.

"I'm afraid I can't look the other way on these. I do hope he has a passport in his real name."

Laura and Mildred exchanged glances.

Just then, the inspector looked out his office window. "Miss Holt, isn't that your man Steele?" he inquired.

Laura followed his gaze to a car that was just parked outside, however, it was hard to make out who was in the vehicle, as it soon merged with afternoon traffic.

Fuming inwardly and wanting to make a discreet exit, Laura ushered Mildred out of Lombard's office, saying, "Excuse us, Inspector."

* * *

A/N: Initially, I just wanted to expand on the carriage scene. It never occur to me to stretch it all the way to when Laura got angry at Steele for not showing up. Hence for adding these extra chapters. So now, it really is complete.


End file.
